‘So you sent the email to the press from my computer?’
‘I did.’ Aaron nodded. ‘You guys were pretty keen to keep this under wraps and we needed to expose the body disappearing… so we could get the message out about why we were doing this. You don’t help yourself, Dad. That password of yours is so easy to break. Maybe there’s a second lesson in all this for you about cyber security. You were lucky, they wanted the email to be sent out prior to the election but I paused on it until the ballots were nearly closed. I didn’t want it influencing the election.’
‘And the letters to the different sites?’
‘Yeah that was me too. You and Vanessa missed a couple of places though. I posted a few out to Gettysburg, the Presbyterian Church in New York and Harpers Ferry, which I thought you’d also visit along the way, but you arrested Rick Spabrunt sooner than we thought. But I think you got the message we were trying to portray anyway. I’m surprised you didn’t twig earlier on that I was involved, we did a pretty good job in Kentucky of highlighting Lincoln’s own father’s distance towards his son. You completely missed it.’
‘Plenty of kids have arguments with their parents over their sexuality. None of them go as far as this. What the hell is wrong with you?’
‘Dad, this was the only way I could make you see. You’re intolerant of people like me and this is the only thing you seem to care about. It was the only way to show you how I feel.’
‘But I didn’t even know you were gay until after the body went missing?’ Darnell said, scratching his head as he tried to piece together the timelines. ‘How could you possibly know how I was gonna react?’
‘Dad, you’ve been like this for years. Every time the discussion of equal marriage comes up on the news, you go berserk! You change the channel anytime Elton John comes on the TV. You needed wakening up. I knew I’d be coming out at some point along this journey, although I didn’t expect Mom to break it so soon.’
‘And you’ve risked everything to do this. Your future, your college applications and your freedom. All that’s in the gutter once the police discover your involvement. And for what?’
‘I figured being the son of a cop that I might be able to side-step any criminal charges, but I figured it was worth the risk anyway, just for you to feel the hurt I’ve felt.’
‘Look, son. Regarding your sexuality. I know I’ve struggled. I grew up in a strict religious household that just didn’t recognise it. You should be grateful your grandfather isn’t alive, he was far worse than me.’
‘This isn’t about him, Dad.’
‘But I’ll come around. I will. I’ve already begun to ask questions. My colleague, Vanessa, she’s got a sister who’s gay. I’m slowly starting to understand. But I worry about you. You weren’t there in the eighties when people like you were hunted down and killed. You haven’t lived through the AIDs epidemic. I just want what’s best for you and I hoped you’d grow out of whatever this is.’
‘The world has moved on, Dad. And so should you.’
Darnell lowered his glum head, slightly nodding as he contemplated this complex maze of diversity which he’d struggled to keep up with. He turned to the coffin and back towards his son with his skinny arms.
‘How the hell did you carry this damn thing here? It weighs a ton.’
‘Kenny May brought it here in his van. I believe he gave you a tour of Ford’s Theatre. We ordered the glass casket from a local funeral directors. We told them it was for a play.’
‘You really have been busy,’ Darnell said, raising his eyebrows.
‘Detective Jackson.’ a voice called from behind. Darnell and Aaron turned around to find four FBI agents standing by the bridge. ‘We’ve been informed you found a body.’
‘I’m sorry about this, Aaron, but you need to be taught a lesson,’ Darnell said before turning to the agents. ‘The body of Abraham Lincoln is over there by the river edge. Officers, this is your final culprit; Aaron Jackson. He’s all yours.’
The agents moved in on Aaron and placed him in handcuffs. Darnell walked away from the bridge and found Vanessa, who had her head in her hands. They embraced before walking across the dusty path back to the car park, ignoring the pleas of Aaron behind them.
Chapter 27
They missed their flight back to Illinois. Over the following twenty-four hours Darnell and Vanessa answered endless questions from the FBI about their discovery of the body and the journey they had embarked upon to find Abraham Lincoln. They bagged another night in the luxury Jefferson Hotel and watched the news as CNN showed the journey of the former president making his way back to Illinois on the same road he’d made nearly 150 years before.
A breaking newsflash revealed that the police had located Kenny May, their other suspect. Kenny was an actor who had studied in Springfield, where he met Lae Chang in the drama society. Desperate to get into show business, he volunteered at the Springfield Theatre, meanwhile waiting for casting calls for the local am-dram society’s latest production. The aspiring thespian was the son of Eric May, who had links to the Ku Klux
